Where a man is ready for this Quest but stubbornly clings to his old familiar way of thought and life, the Overself may or may not release karma that will tear him away from it. His ego's desires will then be macerated by suffering until its will to live gets weaker and weaker. (#375)

The longer I live and the more I observe in the lives of others, the more numerous become the illustrations of higher laws--the factuality of karma and the universality of the Quest. This is only as it should be for both are parts of the World-Idea. Thought and action are reflected back by karma. All people in all lands are seeking nostalgically for their homeland--the multitude unconsciously, the few consciously--this is their Quest. (#639)

He has chosen a path to which he has been led both by instinct and by experience. As he tries to follow it, he will meet with all kinds of difficulties but he should not turn back. Because the interrelation of outward karma to inner character is so close, he should understand that these difficulties are linked up with his inner state, and that he begins to solve them by removing the imperfection of that inner state. He must understand that, although this goal is not easy to obtain, he must refuse to give up hope. The path is right by itself, and in allying himself with it, he is allying himself with what is, after all, the greatest force in the world. (#1257)

Those whose inner development or outer circumstances or personal karma have prepared them for the truth will come to it anyway: they may need a little prodding or a lot of reflection, but in the end they will recognize it for what it is. But they confound this recognition with the relation of discipleship to some guru. The two things need to be separated if they are to be correctly understood. (#1637)

At a certain stage in the life of the aspirant it is of the utmost importance to him that he improve his character and karma. This, neither he nor anyone can hope to do so effectively alone as when studying under a genuine teacher. In the latter case, it is possible for him to accomplish within a relatively short time that which would ordinarily require many more years of floundering self-effort. (#1695)

The seeker should resolve to appeal directly by constant aspiration and prayer to his own higher self, in the knowledge that it alone can help him if he is to work without a teacher. On the other hand, if his karma has decreed that he is to have a guide, his higher self will bring before him the mental image or intuitive thought of the Master. If this happens, he will not need to seek out the Master's physical person; the inner picture will bring results. (#1760)

Too many seekers create a supernatural halo around the master's personality. Too many wrap it in dramatic and romantic garb. Too many expect too much from the first meeting with him. The consequence of all this is often a tremendous emotional let-down, an unreasonable disappointment after the reality of an actual meeting, and they lose their balance altogether. It is inevitable that a close-up view of the master will not prove so striking as a long-range one seen through romantic glasses. From a distance it is easy to bestow admiration and feel awe for a man they have almost turned into a deity. But drawn into close contact with him it is just as easy to swing in the opposite direction and turn the master into a man. They do not notice how brief is their firsthand acquaintance with him, how few are the appearances that constitute the data for their conclusions, how conceited it is for spiritual pygmies to think they understand a spiritual titan. Because what they appear to have found does not correspond with the mental image they have previously conceived of him, he is judged to be no master at all. Nor are these the only reasons for such a failure. Equally important is the fact that such a meeting, or the period immediately following it, becomes the signal for opposition by adverse force. Evil spirits may find their opportunity just then to lead him astray, mischievous ones may try to bewilder his mind, or lying ones may give untrue suggestions to him. His own weaknesses of character and faultiness of judgement may become greatly magnified and foist an absurdly wrong estimate of the master upon him. He may even feel personal antagonism toward the master. All this is of course a test for him. If he thinks he is judging whether this man is fit to be his master, life in its turn is judging whether he is fit to have such as master. Here then are some of the answers to the question "Why, if we concede that the adepts have a right to hide from the multitude, do they also seem to hide from the earnest seeking few?" The adepts are confident that those individuals who are really ready for them will meet them when the right time comes. They know that this will happen not only under the direct working of karma, not only under the impulsions of the seeker's own higher self, but also under the wise laws which govern the quest itself. These are high and hard truths. But they are the realities of life, not dreams for those who like to be self-deluded. Whoever rejects them for such a reason does so at the risk of being harshly shocked into awakening one day. (#1918)

The Theosophic teaching that the master takes on the karma of his pupil is often misunderstood. So many students think that the master hesitates to accept a pupil because of this heavy liability of accepting his karma. The measure of truth in this belief is that the master does have some moral responsibility for the self-injuring mistakes committed by the pupil as a direct consequence of special knowledge entrusted to him or for society-injuring misuse of special powers transferred to him or aroused into activity within him because of special instructions given by the teacher--in either case before he was sufficiently strong morally and pure in motive. But the general karma of the pupil is not accepted nor can it be accepted by any master. That is the pupil's making and he himself must work it out. (#1947)

The student is mistaken if he thinks the teacher ever places obstacles or temptations in anyone's way. He does not have to do that; it is done by life itself, or, more precisely, by the karma arising from the individual character and its special needs. The teacher may note them and act accordingly, but he does not create them. In the end, the student himself creates his own obstacles and his own temptations by his thinking, by his character, and by his karma. (#1948)

He may be generous enough to accept them as they are, with their weaknesses and mistakes, but the law of karma is above all human emotions, whether they be generous or ingenerous. It demands full payment and distributes to them the consequences of their actions. (#2228)

He will be handicapped to some extent by a consciousness of the difficulty of securing adequate loyalty to a teacher who refuses to surround himself with all the paraphernalia of ashrams and all the trappings of guru-worship--both of which are repugnant to him. There are excellent reasons in the student's own interest--and perhaps to some degree in the teacher's, too--why in this case such personal loyalty must be emphatically insisted on. The pupil's allegiance will sooner or later be subjected to the unexpected strain of severe tests. The adept possesses far too sensitive a temperament and far too strong an independence to endure with indifference the telepathic reflections of this strain, which are invariably produced when the relationship effectively exists with the profound obligations on both sides which it entails. He may be philosophic enough to smile at misunderstanding or desertion but he will also be human enough to be sensitive to them. For even were a student to break with him he could never break with the student. His own conception of loyalty embraces a wider stretch than the frail seekers are likely to understand. Some indeed have been so deceived by the compulsions of personal karma and the logic of mere appearances as to imagine that he is devoid of human sympathy and indifferent to human feelings. (#2236)

No man can really be responsible for another man: each makes, and must accept, his own karma. (#2325)

The quester moves from beginning to end--if it could be said that there really is an end--under a higher will. It is not only the point that he sets out to reach that matters but also the point that he will be permitted to reach. But this is not arbitrarily and capriciously predetermined. His own karma comes into play here. (#2777)

It is true that the inner life of most aspirants usually proceeds after the first stirring awakening on a somewhat monotonous flat ground. The advance, if any, is slow. But it is also true that certain times come at the end of these long intervals when it is possible to make a definite spurt forward, rapidly and decisively. The aspirant has to watch vigilantly for such opportunity and make the most of it when it does come. The most noteworthy sign of its presence is a sudden, unexpected surge of determination and resolution to bring about certain changes in the inner life. With this emotional arousing there comes some or all of the strength to effect the changes. The utmost advantage should be taken of these feelings while they temporarily manifest themselves. For the extent of the advance will depend upon the jolting force, the spiritual violence, and the positive and affirmative character of the thoughts held at the time, which are used to implement the new resolve. Quite often it may involve making a revolutionary decision requiring some courage or at least enough to desert an old standpoint for a new one. Naturally the emotions which enter into such a change will be the higher ones. These energetic spurts arise from a brief arousal of the force called Spirit-Fire by the Orientals and are induced by the accumulation and release of favourable karma or by the gracious contact with an adept. They stimulate effort and energize the will beyond the ordinary. Every advantage should be taken of these stimulations while they last for they usually pass away after a time. (#2859)

We all have karmic debts to meet, self-earned penalties for sins and errors committed in former lifetimes if not in this one. Therefore, the philosophic student should not be surprised if a cycle of pleasant karma is followed by a difficult cycle. This doesn't mean the student should resign himself and do nothing about his troubles. On the contrary, he must seek every practical means of overcoming them. By so doing, and if he does the best he can, then there is a possibility that the debt may be modified--sometimes even cancelled. He may always cling to hope. (#2879)

Life itself is today the hierophant who tests his character and mentality, his power and endurance and responsiveness to intuitions. Life itself will sooner or later provide its square and compasses whereby his character may be measured, his earnestness proved, and his aims known. It does this for all men in a general sense, but it does this for disciples in a special sense. Whoever engages himself to tread this path, in our own times, will find that every important event becomes a sign of the activity of either good or evil forces. He must be forewarned that, at certain stages, he will be examined by his higher self and tested by the beneficent forces or tempted by the adverse ones. From this epoch-making date, the major episodes of an aspirant's life are purposely sent into it. Both good and evil powers pay special attention, within his personal karma, to his affairs. Once he has committed himself to this quest, he will find that events so arrange themselves as to indicate his sincerity, examine his motives, display his weaknesses, and find out his virtues. His devotion to the philosophic ideal will be tested, his loyalty to the goal will be tried. (#2894)

It will depend largely upon the disciple how long his term of probation lasts. It is true that periods of one, three, five, or seven years have been mentioned in this connection historically, but it would be quite arbitrary to hold a man to any such period, irrespective of his character, circumstances, and karma. When he is able to pass the basic requirements of the Quest in morality and loyalty, in intuition and comprehension, his term will come to an end. The ego will not hesitate to use even a pretense of spirituality in order to keep its hold over him. It will persuade him flatteringly to believe that he is better than he really is. If he falls into this trap, he will not only become ensnared in spiritual pride, but also fall into various mistakes of judgement and conduct because he will be blissfully unaware of serious defects in himself. (#2918)

There is no need for pessimism when his career seems to meet with insuperable obstacles and when he seems to come to an impasse which brings out nothing but a feeling of great frustration. At such times, he must remember that karma may begin to work out her own plans and that a reorientation of activities may be indicated. He should do all he can to create his specific opportunities and thus shorten the waiting time. The developed aspirant does not fall into conventional categories and that is why he has to strike out on a new path for himself. It needs courage, faith, imagination, intuition, and the ability to recognize karmic opportunities and make the most of them. (#2960)

Now and then karma unloads trials and troubles which are not pleasant to endure. All the same they have something to teach us--if only the ancient lesson of the need to find a more satisfactory inner life to compensate for the transiency and the vicissitudes of the outer life. He cannot escape from these so long as he lives upon this earth but he can hope to understand them and eventually to master his mental reactions to them. Therein lies peace and wisdom. (#2962)

Although worldly desires are all right in their place and may be legitimately satisfied, they must remain subordinate to the spiritual aspiration for self-realization. To help the individual to agree voluntarily to such subordination, the Overself, which has been invoked, deliberately arranges experience (under karma) in such a way as to underline spiritual values. Once he is able to bring feelings into accord with such values, he will find that the very things which eluded his grasp when he sought them, now come to him of their own accord. Thus sacrifices demanded turn out to be merely temporary, whereas the happiness obtained is double--both earthly and spiritual. This is why Jesus said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all these things shall be added unto you." (#2963)